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Biofuel myths videos

Not all biofuels are GM, but GM technology is often critical to the development of biofuels, and Monsanto has been at the very heart of the biofuels lobby, particularly for ethanol and biodiesel. The videos in this section explain why biofuels have been criticised for hurting the poor, for causing major deforestation and for stealing agricultural land essential to farmers in the developing world. Studies also suggest biofuels may be far worse in terms of greenhouse gas emissions than even fossil fuels.

At the 17th Annual Margolis lecture at UC Irvine, USA, scientist and activist Vandana Shiva explores whether the future will be one of food wars or food peace. She argues that the creation of food peace demands a major shift in the way food is produced and distributed, and the way in which we manage and use the soil, water and biodiversity, which makes food production possible. (Time for video: 59:17)

Agrofuels/Biofuels are promoted as a the solutions for the current energy and climate crises. Are the and can they be sustainable? This video explains in simple terms what Friends of the Earth think about them. (Time: 7:26)

If you thought biofuels were a good thing, you need to see this short film. Growing plants to turn into our petrol is taking food away from people in poor countries. And it’s no better for the environment than using fossil fuels. Biofuels are already mixed into the petrol we buy. Get the facts from this short film and then take action to stop our government supporting biofuels. (Time for video: 01:24)

Ethanol is a dirty, expensive and inefficient fuel. The ethanol lobby is spending millions of dollars on advertising to try to convince Congress to continue handing out billions of taxpayer dollars. Here we show what their ads should actually say. (Time: 3:06)

Dr. Ricardo Navarro, president of Friends of the Earth El Salvador (CESTA), drops by Friends of the Earth U.S. to discuss some of the impacts of biofuel production and policy on the global south. (Time: 3:24)

A presentation given by David Fridley of Lawrence Berkeley Labs and San Francisco Oil Awareness. He voices concerns about the potential effects of petroleum depletion (peak oil) on world societies for a number of years, and the headlong rush into the production of biofuels (agrofuels) as a "fix" for increasingly constrained world petroleum supplies. (Time for video: 01:28:45)

At the ARBS Conference, Melbourne, April 2008, Dr Patrick Dixon talked about the problems that governments create by focusing on biofuels. This focus will distort food markets and exacerbate a global food crisis. (Time: 3.21)

Biofuels invoke an image of renewable abundance that allows industry, politicians, the World Bank, the UN, and even the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to present fuel from corn, sugarcane, soy and other crops as a smooth transition from peak oil to a renewable fuel economy. Myths of abundance divert attention away from powerful economic interests that benefit from this transition, avoiding discussion of the growing price that citizens of the Global South are beginning to pay to maintain the consumptive, oil-based lifestyle of the North. Biofuels mania obscures the profound consequences of the industrial transformation of our food and fuel systems – The Agro-fuels Transition. (Total time: 59:19)